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From page 25... ... The site plans to involve industry and other national labs/DOE sites to identify alternative technologies. For waste processing improvements, the site hopes to implement technologies to improve waste throughput in the DWPF, possibly through a combination of higher waste loadings in glass (current waste loadings are 37-38 percent) Read the entire page →
From page 26... ... The carbon steel construction of the tanks limits options for in-tank processing of waste as well as waste retrieval. The site has been very successful in maintaining the high-level waste tanks in a safe condition, which tends to promote a status quo operating mentality that can prevent progress from being made. Read the entire page →
From page 27... ... The Idaho Site's principal cleanup challenges include the following: 1. Waste retrieval and treatment Calcine retrieval (from bins) Read the entire page →
From page 28... ... Contamination in the vadose zone and groundwater will also have to be monitored over the long term. The site contains many highly contaminated facilities (reactors and chemical processing facilities) Read the entire page →
From page 29... ... More work is needed on assessing the effectiveness of capping technologies, as well as other technologies to characterize and stabilize waste in the deep vadose zone. Conceptual model development for groundwater is a technical challenge across DOE sites. Read the entire page →
From page 30... ... The panel was asked to comment on the risks from transuranic waste in piping beneath a facility at the site and whether it was contributing to contamination of the vadose zone. Read the entire page →
From page 31... ... Ms. Trever commented that site access to this work is "hit or miss." The Idaho National Laboratory has a vadose zone research program, but the program is not fully operating. Read the entire page →
From page 32... ... Decontamination technologies and tools, including cost-effective remote decontamination processes and robotics technologies; dry decontamination technologies that can be used to remove high levels of contamination with minimal secondary wastes; decision tools for determining optimal decontamination approaches; and technologies and approaches for removal of equipment containing high levels of radioactive and hazardous contamination. Demolition technologies and tools for understanding, predicting, and preventing the release of contaminants during facility demolition; technologies and approaches for PREPUBLICATION COPY Read the entire page →
From page 33... ... Panelist Susan Gawarecki (Executive Director, Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee, Inc.) noted that the major cleanup challenges identified by the Oak Ridge Oversight Committee are deactivation and decommissioning, soil and groundwater PREPUBLICATION COPY Read the entire page →
From page 34... ... Many facilities have not had proper maintenance and surveillance and will be very expensive to decontaminate and demolish. The technical challenges include underwater cutting and demolition, and approaches for demolishing large contaminated facilities without spreading contamination. Read the entire page →
From page 35... ... Questions and Discussion An audience member asked whether facilities that enter the EM cleanup program in the future would increase the scope of the site's cleanup challenges. Read the entire page →
From page 36... ... There is a 5 square mile [13 square kilometer] carbon tetrachloride groundwater plume beneath the Central Plateau in the 200 West Area that is the result of past discharges of an estimated 500 to 1000 metric tons of carbon tetrachloride, a significant portion of which is believed to still be in the vadose zone. Read the entire page →
From page 37... ... Infiltration around the tanks can drive subsurface contaminants deeper into the vadose zone and groundwater. Read the entire page →
From page 38... ... or stabilizing contamination in the vadose zone, especially in the deep vadose zone, is a difficult technical challenge. Examples of specific cleanup challenges include the BC Cribs on the Central Plateau, where the magnitude of intentional discharges of contaminants exceeded the leaks from the tanks; and the 618-10/11 burial grounds located north of the 300 Area, which contain intensely radioactive transuranic waste, some of which has contaminated the local groundwater. Read the entire page →
From page 39... ... focused her comments on soil and groundwater cleanup challenges at the site. Conceptual model development should be at the top of the list of science and technology gaps in the workshop discussion paper. Read the entire page →
From page 40... ... If tanks can be cleaned out thoroughly, then the long-term risks shift to the vadose zone (from the contaminants discharged from past tank operations or resulting from tank leaks) Read the entire page →
From page 41... ... Mr. Wiegman noted that model uncertainties increase as one moves from the waste form through the vadose zone and into the groundwater. Read the entire page →
From page 42... ... PROMOTING THE EFFECTIVE USE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN DOE SITE CLEANUP For its final session, the workshop organizing committee invited presentations on promoting the effective use of science and technology in the DOE-EM cleanup program. David Maloney (Director, Technology -- Nuclear Group, CH2M Hill) Read the entire page →
From page 43... ... Maloney observed that under the performance-based completion contracts described previously, technology PREPUBLICATION COPY Read the entire page →
From page 44... ... The second CRESP project was a December 2006 workshop on cemetitious materials at the Savannah River Site in conjunction with Savannah River National Laboratory. The objective of the workshop was, first, to develop a common understanding among DOE, regulators, site operators, researchers, and other stakeholders concerning the state of the science, current practices, and knowledge gaps; and second, to identify opportunities to PREPUBLICATION COPY Read the entire page →
From page 45... ... Vadose zone contamination is an especially difficult problem at the western sites. There does not appear to be much vadose zone or groundwater R&D within EM. Read the entire page →
From page 46... ... FUTURE PLANS This workshop summary will be used by DOE to inform the development of its technology roadmap for Congress. It will also be used by the EM Roadmap Committee (Appendix D) Read the entire page →
From page 47... ... 2005c. Improving the Characterization and Treatment of Radioactive Wastes for the Department of Energy's Accelerated Site Cleanup Program (http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php? Read the entire page →
From page 48... ... 2001h. Characterization of Remote-Handled Transuranic Waste for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php? Read the entire page →
From page 49... ... 1999d. The State of Development of Waste Forms for Mixed Wastes: U.S. Read the entire page →
From page 50... ... 1996e. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: A Potential Solution for the Disposal of Transuranic Waste (http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php? Read the entire page →
From page 51... ... 1988a. WIPP Panel Letter Report on Intermediate-Scale Experiments of Room Closure Rates PREPUBLICATION COPY Read the entire page →
From page 52... ... 1972. An Evaluation of the Concept of Storing Radioactive Waste in Bedrock Below the Savannah River Plant Site PREPUBLICATION COPY Read the entire page →
From page 53... ... in The Biological Effects of Atomic Radiation: Summary Reports from a Study by the National Academy of Sciences PREPUBLICATION COPY Read the entire page →
From page 54... ... APPENDIX B WORKSHOP AGENDA DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A CLEANUP TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP FOR DOE'S OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT MARCH 13, 2007 KECK CENTER OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES (ROOM 100) 500 FIFTH STREET, NW WASHINGTON, DC 20001 8:30 am Welcome and Introductions Ed Przybylowicz, chair, Workshop Organizing Committee Introductions of committee, staff, and participants Meeting objectives and ground rules 8:45 am Background on the DOE request for this workshop Mark Gilbertson, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Engineering and Technology, DOE-EM 9:10 am Congressional interest in a DOE-EM technology roadmap Terry Tyborowski, Staff Assistant, House Committee on Appropriations, Energy and Water Development Subcommittee PANEL DISCUSSIONS ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY GAPS AND PRIORITIES FOR DOE SITE CLEANUP 9:30 am Savannah River Site Panelists Pat Suggs, Chemical Engineer, DOE Savannah River Operations Office, Salt Processing Project Division John Marra, Associate Laboratory Director, Savannah River National Laboratory Shelly Sherritt, Federal Facilities Liaison, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control David Wilson, Bureau Chief, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control 10:00 am Discussion period 10:30 pm Break 10:45 am Idaho Site Panelists Scott Van Camp, Assistant Manager, DOE Idaho Operations Office Nick Ceto, Program Manager, Office of Environmental Cleanup, Hanford/INL Project Office, EPA PREPUBLICATION COPY 54 Read the entire page →
From page 55... ... Appendix B 55 Kathleen Trever, Coordinator, State of Idaho INL Oversight Office 11:20 am Discussion period 11:50 pm Lunch 12:50 pm Reconvene for announcements and afternoon session 12:55 pm Oak Ridge Reservation Panelists David Adler, Environmental Management Program Director, DOE Oak Ridge Office Phil McGinnis, Program Manager, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Dale Rector, Assistant Director, Emergency Services Coordinator, Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation, DOE Oversight Division Susan Gawarecki, Executive Director, Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee, Inc. 1:25 pm Discussion period 1:55 pm Hanford Site Panelists John Morse, Senior Technical Advisor for Soil and Ground Water Remediation, DOE Richland Operations Office Steve Wiegman, Senior Technical Advisor, DOE Office of River Protection Roy Gephart, Geohydrologist, Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Terri Stewart, Initiative Lead for Environmental Biomarkers, Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Nick Ceto, Program Manager, Office of Environmental Cleanup, Hanford/INL Project Office, EPA Nancy Uziemblo, Environmental Specialist, Nuclear Waste Program, Washington State Department of Ecology Dirk Dunning, Program Coordinator, Oregon Office of Energy, Nuclear Safety Division, Oregon Department of Energy Susan Leckband, Chair, Hanford Advisory Board 2:45 pm Discussion period 3:25 pm Break PROMOTING THE EFFECTIVE USE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN DOE SITE CLEANUP 3:45 pm Perspectives from a site cleanup contractor David Maloney, Director, Technology -- Nuclear Group, CH2M Hill 4:10 pm Perspectives from CRESP David Kosson, chair, and Chuck Powers, professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Vanderbilt University PREPUBLICATION COPY Read the entire page →
From page 56... ... Carolyn Huntoon, CLH Associates, Inc. Mark Gilbertson, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Engineering and Technology, DOE-EM 5:40 pm Adjourn PREPUBLICATION COPY Read the entire page →
From page 57... ... Desert Research Institute Sherritt, Shelly South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control PREPUBLICATION COPY 57 Read the entire page →
From page 58... ... Department of Energy, Office of River Protection Wiley, John Nuclear Radiation Studies Board, National Research Council Wilson, David South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control Wilson, Mike Washington State Department of Ecology PREPUBLICATION COPY Read the entire page →

From page 25...

... The site plans to involve industry and other national labs/DOE sites to identify alternative technologies. For waste processing improvements, the site hopes to implement technologies to improve waste throughput in the DWPF, possibly through a combination of higher waste loadings in glass (current waste loadings are 37-38 percent)